After the excitement of seeing all those whales, we had a different kind of excitement when we left the caravan park (CP) at Hervey Bay. A minor disagreement with the roof over the porch at the Reception of the CP caused a bit of damage to Belle and to the building roof. However it was the kindness and help we got from strangers that made an impression on us. The CP lady referred us to repairers and when we tracked down a guy in a neighbouring town, he told us he was swamped with work but said come over. Saturday lunch time we arrived and he saw us straight away, checked out the problem and did a patch for us that should last four months. He spent an hour fixing our problem and asked for payment of $50. Pretty good country service and friendliness. [We did pay him more than he asked for]. That put us only slightly behind our plan for the day and we did make it to our booked campsite in Deepwater NP, just as darkness hit.
Deepwater National Park – the beach was great and we did some good walks there; including a pre-breakfast morning walk.This was a beautiful beach for long walks – nice hard sand.Our campsite at Deepwater.Another great walk.We didn’t see many animals in the NP, but this goanna paid me a visit one morning. I took the photo leaning out the window of Belle as he came close to check us out.
Next stop was Capricornia Caves, just north of Rockhampton and on the Tropic of Capricorn.
The Tropic of Capricorn lies 23.5 degrees south of the equator and marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon.On the tour of the caves we learned that they were first discovered in 1882 by a Norwegian pioneer, John Olsen, who ran them as a family business. Another family, the Augusteyns took them over in 1988 and in 2005 a rich bone deposit of significant fossils was found.Giant fig trees hide the opening to the caves. You can see how their roots travel everywhere in search of water.There are only five of these ferns (tectaria devaxa fern) left in the world and they are in the caves and unlikely to survive, as the caves are ‘dry caves’ now. The surrounding ‘dry rainforest’ has adapted to the decrease in rainfall.Opera performances are held in the large Cathedral Cave, which has great acoustics. We listened to a stunning recording of ‘Allelulia’ complete with a dramatic ‘cave style’ light show, which included complete darkness. Well worth seeing.
After that attraction we headed back to the coast and another lovely beach campsite at Carmila Beach. Managed to get in a very nice 4 km beach walk before dinner.Woke in time to see this beautiful sunrise from my bedroom window.That beautiful beach turned into mud flats at low tide.Somehow Dick managed to get stuck up to his knees in the mud, and then needed to dig his crocs out of the mud. Of course we were at a place without a shower!On the way to Eungella NP, an old favorite camp, we stopped at Finch Hatton gorge, a beautiful gorge area of lush rainforest, named after Finch Hatton, who helped to get the area saved as a national park.As you can see here the waterfall, Araluen Cascades, had lots of water.
We returned to camp at Broken River campground in Eungella NP because its the best place we know to see platypus in the wild. We were not disappointed this time either.
We saw heaps swimming around like this.Dick got a great shot of this guy.Ros and Don (friends from Caloundra) happened to be travelling there as well, so we spent a fabulous day watching platypus play and enjoying spending time together.Our campsite was right beside the river where the platypus were swimming around, so we could eat lunch by the van and watch platypus in the river.
Cape Hillsborough NP is another NP campground on the beach, but this one heavily promotes its 6am kangaroo feeding on the beach. We went to have a look at the park but mostly we needed a CP with laundry and showers.
I was very surprised how many people were excitedly watching the kangaroos on the beach. To be fair most of them seemed like overseas tourists who had never seen a kangaroo before (altho that is unlikely right now). The feeding started at 6am and I took this photo at 6:30am.
If you waited long enough, at least you got to see the sunrise.
After stopping at Airlie Beach so Dick could catch up with an old friend, we drove to Shute Harbor and then on to Bowen for some rest days in luxury (that means we had an ensuite site in the caravan park).
Enjoyed sunset drinks and nibbles with Ros & Don plus their friends, Anne and Craig, in front of their place in Bowen.
Spoiled ourselves with fresh prawns one day and fish and chips the next; plus a bit of tv and of course more beach walks. Somehow four days passed very quickly and we caught up on lots of phone calls, emails, blog work, ukulele practising plus we made a video birthday card for Amy.
Checking out the view from Flagstaff Lookout in Bowen.I thought this piece of driftwood looked like a seal so got close to give him a kiss! That was the beach where our CP was located, and it was great to march out a good 5 k walk there.Revisited another favorite spot in Townsville, a CP with a nice hot spa pool. Dick made a little wooden stand for the iphone so we can take our own selfies without looking so inept.Had a good visit with Explorer friends, Wendy and Sandy, and gave them a tour of Belle. Always lots to talk about with Explorer friends.Dick is trying hard to keep going with his balance classes, and since he did them by Zoom in Sydney; he is able to continue them as long as we can stop some where with internet. This time we stopped at the dam in Townsville.I walked up to the top of the Ross River Dam wall and learned that the dam provides a water supply and flood control. At over 8km long with an average height of 27 meters, it is the longest wall of its type in Australia.We were aiming for a camp at Bingil Bay but it was full so we drove to Mission Beach/Wongaling Beach and found a spot near the beach. Had another good beach walk, opposite Dunk Island and other smaller islands.The campsite was fine but when we were late checking out in the morning, the owner asked us to leave the park. Dick made a smartass comment and the guy threatened to get his bulldozer and push us over. Although it was not a nice way to leave, (and from other comments, we were not the first to encounter his rudeness), it was very unusual as we generally encounter friendly and helpful people wherever we travel.
Bonding with Belle/Beaches, buddies and bound northward
2020 has started out to be an unforgetable year for many reasons. In spite of all that is going on, we are fortunate to be able to travel in Belle, our new Explorer Motorhome. Our first trip in Belle in late June was visiting friends in Anna Bay and Rylstone, plus a bush camp in Newnes in the Wollombi NP, where we explored the ruins of an oilshale mine and refinery that operated from 1906-1931. A good explanation of the processes and products produced there (paraffin wax to make candles, lubricating oils and fuel oils) and a reminder of how things change over time. Worth a visit and the campground was lovely, but the time with our friends was especially nice.
On the beach at Anna Bay with Jen and Kevin. The camels were an added featureBeautiful country vistas near RylstoneNewnes campground in Wollombi National Park.
There is no map of our proposed trip for the next 3 or 4 months as we don’t really know where we will be allowed to go. The theme song for this trip is “Magical Mystery Tour” by the Beatles. No plans aside from heading north and seeing what happens. We realise that being able to leave our home, and our state, for recreational travel at this time is a gift that not many can enjoy.
Just before we left home, we celebrated the exciting news that Amy and Neil got engaged. We are very happy for them and its especially nice to have such happy news to share and celebrate during this time. ❤️❤️❤️
By the time travel to Queensland opened up on 10 July, we were ready to hit the road in Belle, so we left Sydney on 11 July, bright and early at 3:15pm. Only got about an hour north out of Sydney when I lost all power in Belle and had to pull over to the side of the road. Just made it when we stopped completely! The engine warning light came on and it did not look good. The fuel empty light had come on 10-15 minutes earlier and we were arguing about how soon we needed to fill up as the gauge said 1/8th full. Called the NRMA who quoted a 1.5 hour wait, so we sat there tensely watching the darkness roll in, as the big trucks passed closely by. Checked out local Toyota dealers and wondered where we could be towed to and where we would sleep. In less than an hour a service vehicle from the Roads Dept parked behind us with lights flashing. He pushed the button on top of the fuel filter (ie bled the fuel line) and said we were out of fuel. Such a good free service – he put in 10 litres of diesel and told us where the next service station was. Felt we had a lucky escape! After all that we camped in a free camp at the Kurri Kurri Sports Ground. This really is a mystery tour.
After a quick tour of Kurri Kurri, with its giant kookaburra and lots of street murals, we drove to Port Macquarie for our traditional catchup with Anne and Mick.
Port looked lovely and seemed to be a much more relaxed atmosphere than Sydney.
From there we made it to Red Rocks, a bush camp near the ocean, north of Coffs Harbour. Great place for a rest day with a beach walk and some distant whale spotting from the headland. We met a couple from Manly Vale in Sydney and invited them in for a drink, before a quiet dinner and a uke practice.
The beautiful beach at Red Rock – great for walking a few k’s.The view from Red Rock headlandSunset on Red Rock headland. It was named Red Rock headland (Blood Rock) for the red blood from the aborigines who were driven off the headland and into the ocean by white settlers.
In an attemp to be extra careful before crossing into Queensland we drove to Grafton to get a Covid test. They wouldn’t do it as we didn’t have any symptoms. We did a vehicle weighbridge stop and were happy that Belle’s weight is ok. We were heading back to the coast for another night on the beach when we saw on the news that some parts of Sydney were being locked down. Decided to go for the border immediately and seeing a 1.5 hour traffic delay at Coolongatta, we took a back way along the Tweed Valley Way – windy roads through a mountain range. Got to the tiny border crossing and were met with signs that said “ Border closed -$33,000 fines apply”. Our hearts sank but when we got to the policeman at the border, he said it was open and he didn’t know why they put those signs up. We spent the night at the Canungra Sports Ground/Camping area. Realised that we knew people who lived in the area so we got in touch and they visited us the next day at 8am.
From there we drove to Steve and Denise’s. Had a nice visit and even got to join them for dinner out to celebrate Denise’s birthday and for a coffee catchup with some of their other travelling friends. They live close to Explorer MHs and we needed to get a few things checked/adjusted, so that was all good.
With Steve & Denise outside their new home which is almost finished construction. Exciting times for them! [Note their motorhome in the garage.].
We now have lots of friends in the Brisbane/Sunshine coast area so packed in a lot of visits including: lunch with Chris and Joanne at Kawana Island, and a dinner with Alan and Barbara in Mooloolaba and another overnight in Alan’s driveway. Dick even did his Zoom balance class on Alan’s front lawn. From there we had a lovely visit/afternoon tea at Janice & John’s with Gerry there as well. Finished that day at Gordon and Joanne’s in Tewantin and met their neighbours over drinks.
With Allan at his place, our most frequented driveway camping spot.
Had another ‘Noosa lunch’ with Pamela and Rod; this time at Frenchies where we enjoyed good french food. Retired for an afternoon sleep back at Gordon and Joanne’s before having another lovely dinner with them in their resort-style house. We followed up all that socializing with a driving day as we had a window shade problem in Belle and needed to return to the factory for a repair. Luckily we were only 1.5 hours away and were able to get to our next camp spot on Noosa Northshore by 4pm.
This was a beautiful beach and we managed a nice walk at the end of our driving day.
More beach walking followed on our rest day but the weather was not so kind. Took lunch and raincoats!
Had our picnic in the dunes and mostly dodged those big black clouds!
Now for some sand driving —armed with the relevant beach driving and camping permits we drove along Cooloola Beach to find our own camping spot about 30 kms along the beach in the dunes. The header picture for this blog showcases our camping spot.
Even I have to admit that the sand driving was ok. Dick found the driving easy and hopefully got his fix of sand driving for a while. The weather got worse and the rain settled in for the day so we kept busy and warm in Belle. Sort of like isolation; doing puzzles, emails and reading books. At least we didn’t need to worry about disturbing anyone with our loud ukulele practice.
Started the drive off the beach around noon when the tide was going out, and kept going another 5 k’s on the beach and 13 k’s through sandy bush tracks to get us to Rainbow Beach, where we got an underbody wash for Belle. From there we drove to Hervey Bay as we hadn’t explored that area previously. It is known as the whale watching capital of the world and was named the first ‘Whale Heritage Site’ (Oct 2019) by the World Cetacean Alliance, for its commitment to and practices of sustainable whale and dolphin watching. So we booked for a whale watching tour.
What a great day we had – we saw SO MANY HUMPBACK WHALES; lots in each of 3 or 4 different groups.They were breaching, pec slapping, tail slapping, head lunging and they came right beside the boat. We had 15 guests on a boat that normally takes 100 and we had a fabulous guide, plus we scored a rainbow. What more could we want! Hervey Bay is an important stopover place for humpbacks on their annual migration and whale watching goes from July – October each year. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
A humpback breaching. We saw lots of these.GIF of whale breachingThe whales came very close to the boat. The guides would wave at them and as they are curious they would come closer.GIF of pec flappingHappy and excited at seeing so many majestic whales.We don’t know where we are going, most the time we don’t know where we are, but this map shows where we have been, and is a good place to end this blog.
On the tour of the caves we learned that they were first discovered in 1882 by a Norwegian pioneer, John Olsen, who ran them as a family business. Another family, the Augusteyns took them over in 1988 and in 2005 a rich bone deposit of significant fossils was found.
